Typewriting machine



Sept. 22, 1925.

' E. G. LATTA TYPEWRIQTINC-E MACHINE Original Filed March 18, 1920 a Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORA {Ki Sept. 22, 1925. E. G. LATTA TYPEWRITING MACHINE Original Filed March 18, 1920 3 Sheets-Shut 2 Sept. 22, 1925.

E. G. LATTA TYPEWRITING MACHINE Original Filed March 18, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Sept. 22, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE; f

EMMI'I e. LATTA, or sYRAoUsE, New YORK, AssIeNo-a To rrnsr TRUST AND DEPOSIT COMPANY, ADMINISTRATOR or SAID, EMMIT a. LATTA, DECEASED.

TYPEWRITING MACHIN Original application filed March 18,1920, Serial No. 366,807. Divided and this application filed my 17, 1924. Serial No. 726,632.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, EMMrr G. LATTA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to typewriting machines and particularly to improvements in line space mechanisms therefor.

The present invention is a divisional one from my copending application for improvements in typewriting machines Serial No.

366,807 filed March 18, 1920.

One object of the invention is to improve typewriting machines by making a line space mechanism and its attachments more compact without lessening-its efiiciency, to locate such parts in desirable positions for use, and to make them so that they can be condensed, or reduced in dimensions for encasing the machine when traveling. The I improvements are especially desirable for collapsible or portable typewriting machines, such,

for instance, as that disclosed in my copend- 'ing application Serial No. 319,609, filed August 25th, 1919, but the invention is not restricted to'use on portable typewriters, and

can be used on standard machines. a

Other objects are to adapt a carriage with an ordinary rotary platen to take wider paper than others of no greater total length,

1 andto .do' this with platen knobs operatively located at suitable distances from the ends of the carriage,- alsoto accomplish this result in a construction having a horizontally swinging line space lever ofapprov'ed form and location, and a line space adjusting device in convenient positions for use.

Another object is tocause the paper shelf toswing forwardly when the carrying ca se is closed and thus shorten the machine and at. the same time unlock the supporting bracket for the line space lever so that said lever and the several parts supported by said bracket will automatically assume a. lower position as the case is closed. a

Otherobjects are to provide a line space detent thereon.

mechanism which is detachably secured to and removable with the platen, or which may remain on the carriage as may be de sirable or necessary; also to provide a line space mechanism by which theplaten can be rotated with the minimum effort and in which the line space pawl and other parts In the accompanyingdrawings:

Fig. 1 is a sldeelevation partly broken away of a portable typewriting machine embodying the invention. f p 1 Fig. 2 is av front elevation of the platen carriage removed from the machine, and

showing the parts in their operative posi- Fig. 6 is a front elevation, detached, of

the line space lever Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional end elevatlon on llne 77, Flg. 3.

bracket with the ratchet Fig. 8 is an elevation. of the outer end of I the line space lever bracket. I

Fig. 9 is asimilar view of the inner end thereof, and showing one endofthe ratchet detent springin engagement with the carriage rack bar.

Fig. 10 is a longitudinal setione'mnvation of the platen and linespace mechanism,

showing the parts-of the platen shaft in their. collapsed or inoperativepositions.

Fig. ll is a fragmentary View similar to Fig. 10 but showing the parts ofjtheplaten shaft in operative positionl Fig. .12 is a planf'view of the sheet metal stamping usedfor: making the line space adjusting devicei I accidental disengagement of the platen.

The line spacing mechanism includes a ratchet wheel 65 which is loosely journalled on the left hand end of the tube 50 which forms a portion of the platen shaft, between the adjacent end disk 48 of the platen and a screw sleeve 67 which is screwed on the threaded outer end of the tube 50. The

ratchet wheel can be turned independently of the platen, but is held in frictional connection therewith by suitable means, such as a spring washer 66 between the ratchet wheel and platen end plate and having radial spring arms 67, see Figs. 14%16. The sleeve 6'? has an inturned outer end adapted to engage the extreme end of the tube 50 to prevent the ratchet wheel from being clamped too tightly. The ratchet wheel 65 is therefore releasably or frictionally held by the washer 66 in such manner as to permit it to turn with or independently of the platen when so desired.

The ratchet wheel 65 is provided with an annular series of holes T0, and a locking pin 71, rigidly secured to the end section 52 of the platen shaft and is adapted when said section is moved to its outer operative position, to enter one'of the holes 70 and lockthe ratchet wheel to the platen so that the rotation of the ratchet wheel will then be imparted to the platen. In the con struction shown in the drawings the locking pin 71 is rigid with a sleeve 72 which is adapted to slide on the tube 50 and is secured to the inner end of the end section end disk 48 of the platen permits the passage of the locking pin therethrough for.

engagement with the ratchet wheel; Any other suitable construction may be used to provide a releasable connect-ion between the platen shaft J and the ratchet wheel 65.

For ordinary line spacing, only one of the holes 70 in the ratchet wheel 65 is necessary, a plurality of holes being provided, so that, should the platen be disconnected from the ratchet 65, as for fractional line spacing the pin 71 may be quickly returned to connect the platen with the ratchet wheel by being entered in whichever hole 70 of the ratchet wheel that may happen to be in line with it at the time. The end of the locking pin is tapered to facilitate its engagement with the ratchet wheel. Should the end of the locking pin strike the ratchet wheel between two of the holes and fail to enter one of them, it will spring into one of the holes the first time the ratchet wheel is turned by the operation of the line space lever, presently described. v K represents aline space lever, which preferably has a forwardly projecting arm provided at its front end with a handle portion 80, and having a forked rear end 81 that straddles the platen shaft and is pivoted to a bracket L by .screws 82, 83

arranged above and below the platen shaft in the vertical plane thereof, so that the lever K can swing substantially horizontally. The bracket L (see Figs. 440) is preferably formed as a single piece die casting and is disposed in the recess 29 of thecarriage end plate 28 and forms a support for the various parts of the line space mechanism. It is provided with an open ended slot 85, similar to the slots 37 of the carriage end plates, which receives the end section 52 of the platen shaft and permits the'shaft to pass in and out of its bearing seats in the end plates.

The upper edges of the carriage end plates 27, 28 are concentric with the axis of the platen shaft and the bracket L has a lip 86 which overhangs and engages said concentric upper edge of the adjacent end plate as shown in Figs. 7 and 11. The lower pivot screw 83 for the lever K is formed with a flat sided bottomextension 87 which projects into a. transverse slot 88 in the curved bottom of the part 29 of the car riage end plate 28 (see Fig. 11). This construction permits the bracket L to be rocked.

relative to the platen shaft'and retains it in its proper location when the platen shaft is removed. The bracket L can be turned to place its slot 85 in register with the slots 37 which will allow the bracket to remain on the carriage when removing the platen D, the platen shaft passing out through said slots. If desired the bracket L and the line space mechanism carried thereby may be removed with the platen.

A line space pawl 90 is pivoted on the upper fork branch 81 of the line space lever K preferably between a pair of lugs 91, Figs. 3 and 17 and projects laterally over the ratchet wheel. The free end of the pawl is pressed toward the teeth of the ratchet wheel, preferably by a small coil spring 92 located in an opening in the pivot end of the pawl. This location of the line space pawl permits it to swing directly over the platen shaft and rotate the platen with less effort than if the pawl were pivoted in front of the shaft. Another im portant result of thislocation is that the paper can pass around the platen downwardly in rear of the pawl and upwardly in front of it without interference therewith. The use of wider paper than usual extending out beyondthe ends of the platen is thus permitte Preferably a detent roller for fractional line spacing is journalled on the upper end of a lever 100 pivoted on a lateral stud 101 of the bracketL (see Figs. 5, 6 and 10) and the rolleris pressed against the teeth of the ratchet wheel by a spring'102 which is coiled around the stud 101 with its opposite endsengagingthe detent lever and the rack bar Gr respectively, (see Figs. 86.). This spring in addition to actuating the detent lever, also yieldingly holds the rack bar G in mesh with the carriage {feed pinion H.

P represents a line space adjusting device which cooperates with the pawl 90 to cause themovement of the line space lever to producea one, two or three line space :movement of the platen. The adjusting device is .preferably made from a sheet metal stamping, shown in Fig. 12, which is bent on the dotted lines, shown in said figure, into the shape shown in thezother figures of the drawings. This device is provided with a hole 105 by which itis pivoted on the pivot screw 82 for the line space lever K, inclines upwardly and inwardly therefrom and .has a backwardly bent detent portion 106 with a pointed extremity which is adapted'to snap into one or another of three notches 108 on the top of the bracket L, (Figs. 4, 5, 9 and 13), for holding the device in three different positions. An actuating finger piece 109 curves outwardly and for-v wardly above the-line space lever K so as to cleartheprojecting edge ofthe )aper. The adjusting device also has an inclined rear end 110, (Figs. 13-16) ,and a substantially horizontal. guide edge 111 upon which the free end of the'line space pawl 90 normally rests. Upon-actuating the line space lever K the line space pawl 90 will move along the guide edge 111 and down the inclinellO into engagement with the first tooth of the ratchet wheel which may be in its path, and the continued movement of the lever K will rotate the ratchet wheel and the platen-until the pawl contacts with a fixed stop 115 extending laterally from the bracket L and thus HI? rests the movement ofthe pawl and ratchet wheel. The extent of rotation of the platen will depend upon the adjustment of'the adjusting device P. If the latter-is set with its detent in the front'notoh. 108 the ratchet wheel will be turned a distance of threeteeth, see Fig. 14, while by setting the device in the positionshown in 1Fig. 16 in which its detent will be in the rear notch 108,0nly a one tooth movement is effected. In the middle position of the adjusting. device, shown in Fig. 4,-the ratchet willibe turned a distance of twoteeth. Thelpa-wl moves the same distance inall casesand its engagement with the stop 115 limits the movement of the line space leveu-K and platen, and positively prevents the platen from overrunning.

As shown in Figs. 4,5, and'17, a leaf spring 112 secured to therear end'of the line space lever K andbearing against a rounded projection 113 on the bracket L, acts to return the lever to normal position a-fter'use. When the lever is thus returned the free end of the pawl 90 rides upwardly on the incline 110 out of engagement with the'ratchet wheel 65 and onto the guide .111 of :the adjusting device, leaving the platen D free to be rotated backwardly by the finger wheels if desired.

It represents the paper table which, as usual, extends upwardly and rearward'l'y behind the platen. This table is rigidly secured to a shaft 120 .journaled-at'itsoppositeendsin the rear portions: 31 of the carriage end plates 27, 28. A downwardly and forwardly projecting finger 121, fixed to the left handenid of this shaft, normally enga es arearwardly projecting lug 122 on the bracket L (see Figs. 3 and 4:) and holds the bracket andthe .line space mechanism mounted thereon in operativeposition. A coil-spring 123, Fig. 3, at-the opposite end ofthe shaft 120 holds the shaft and table in the normal position.

its will be apparent from 'the drawings,

the line space pawl 90, detent 7-5, adjusting device P and the supporting bracket L are all grouped around the platen shaft within a circular space of the diameter of the platen, so that the paper can project beyond the end of theplaten around'these various parts practicallyito the carriage end plate without interference with any ofthe-par-ts. In like manner the oppositetedge of the paper canpro-ject-beyond the otherpend of the platen around the inwardly offset parts of the-end plate 27 and carriage release lever 10. Paper considerably wider than the length ofthe platen can therefore be used. on the machine, although the carriage is nolonger than the carriages on standard machines 'wvhieh'cannot .take as wide paper.

l Vhen the-parts of themachine areinaop erati-ve position the free \ends v,of the line space lever K, adjusting devicezP and carriage'release lever 410 alLprojectabove the line (web and the upper edge'of the paper table F.- projects rearwa-rdly beyond the line c-al as shown'iu Fig. \Vhen the rear part of the machine is lowered preparatory to encasing it for transportation,the lines aZ) and 0d becomehorizontal with the line space lever, 1 adj usting device, carriage release, lever an'd paper table I R. in; the-posi= tions-shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

To-condense and encase the maohine,: the end sections 51,.52,of the platen shaft J arepushed inwardly andithere locked by turning the fingerqwheels as tdGSCRlbBCl. The inner edge of the left hand finger ,wheel at this time engages and lllOVGSzllllO line space lever K inwardlyso that its'front end will not extend sideways-beyond the Wertical plane of the outerzface of the-finger Wheel and the total length of the carriage is thereby;reduced to thewidth of the keyboard.

The carriage is now moved to bringits sate n center' opposite the printing pointandthe cover part B of the enclosing casing is placed over the upper part of the machine and moved forwardly.

out of contact withthelug 122 ofthe bracket L, which leaves the bracket free to rock on the platen shaft. The cover B is now pressed downwardly and engages the front wardly and rocking the bracket L and parts carried thereby in the same direction, (see Figs. 1 and 5). Since the act of applying the cover to the machine causes the various shiftable parts mentioned to assume the posit-ions shown in Fig. 5, there can be no danger of injury to any part by neglecting to shift it before applying the cover.

To restore the machine to operative position the cover is removed, when the rack bar will be automatically re-engaged with the feed pinion by its spring 102. The front end of the line space lever is then lifted, which will restore the line space mechanism to operative position. The paper table will then be returned to its proper posit-ion by the spring, and the finger 121 will engage the lug 122 on its bracket L and hold the line space mechanism in position.

If desired a spring could be used to restore the bracket L and parts carried thereby to normal position when the cover is removed. For machines not requiring a change in position of the line space lever, the bracket L could be omitted and the parts carried thereby mounted directly on the end plate of the carriage. Also the bracket L could be mounted at the opposite end of the carriage if preferred. In fact such change in location is required in machines having a line space lever with a downwardly cranked end to be operated by the thumb of the right hand.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a typewriting machine, a rotary platen, a, line space ratchet wheel at its end, a bracket rotatable relative to the platen, a line space lever, a line space pawl, a stop for the pawl, and a detent for the ratchet wheel, all operatively mounted on said bracket and movable therewith to different positions.

2. In a typewriting machine, a platen, a line space lever operatively connected thereto and arranged to swing laterally for turning the platen, said lever being also mounted to tip relatively to the platen for lowering the front end of the lever out of operative position.

3. In a typewriting machine, a line space lever mounted to tip for lowering its front end out of operative position, a paper table acting to normally hold the line space lever in operative position, and a cover for the -machine=which acts on thebpaper table to automatically :unlock the-lever as the cover -isplaced'on the machine; i

4. In a typewriting machine, a line lever arranged to -shiftfrom its operative position for condensing the umachine, :and a cover for the :machine and;connectrons whereby the act of encloslng the machine shifts: the: adjusting 5 lever out of 'its opera- JtlV'G'POSltIOH; i end of the hue space lever, swinging it downi 5. In a" typewriting .imachine, uuai'cover therefor, a line space lever normally extending above the closed position of the adjacent part of the cover and movably mounted so that when the'cover is applied to the machine it moves the line space lever downwardly.

6. In a typewriting machine, a platen, a laterally movable line space lever for turning the platen, and a laterally shiftable platen knob arranged to shift the line space lever inwardly when the knob is moved toward the platen.

7. In a typewriting machine, a rotary platen and shaft, a bracket removably mounted on the platen shaft and having an open slot whereby the shaft may be passed in or out of the bracket, and a line space lever mounted on the bracket.

8. In a typewriting machine, a carriage, a rotary platen detachably mounted on the carriage, a line space lever, a detachable bracket supporting the line space lever and arranged on the platen shaft between the end of the platen and carriage and having an opening whereby the bracket can retain its position on the carriage, or be detached therefrom with the platen.

9. In a typewriting machine, a platen and platen shaft, a line space lever, a line space pawl, and wheel actuated thereby, and a line space adjusting lever pivotally mounted over the platen shaft to swing horizontally and having a part acting to hold the pawl out of contact with the wheel for variable distances in the movement of the pawl.

10. In a typewriting machine, a platen, a line space lever and pawl, a line space adjusting device comprising a pivoted lever, guide for the pawl, and retaining spring. all formed of one piece of sheet metal, and acting by a horizontal movement of the lever to change the line space movements of the platen.

11. In a typewriting machine, a platen and platen shaft, a line space lever and pawl, a line space adjusting device comprisa rotatable support, andia'eove'r for the machine-abting to deplesstthekfronteiid oi? the lever When the cover-isapplied to the machine:

13.2111 a typewi'iting' machine,r a" platen, a lihe space lever. which moves laterally to tui'n the platten and ismounted to' swing downwardly from its normal position, a locking device normally holding the lever in operative position, and a cover for the machine acting to" linlook the lever and lower itwhen the coveris applied tothe machine; I V 14; In a typewriting machine, a platen' a line-space lev'er having two'motions, one to ttfrn the platen and' the other to Inove the,

ment of the lever asthe cover isepplied to 20 the machinei EMMI-T G. LATTA.- 

